Fatigue taking its toll on Sebastian Vettel as ‘steely’ Daniel Ricciardo impresses on and off the track

WINNING four consecutive drivers’ championships has taken its toll on Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel.

According to Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, fatigue has played a role in Vettel’s underwhelming performances thus far in 2014.

“It is a combination of several things,” Horner told Auto Bild Motorsport, a German publication. “First, when you have fought for the title for five years, it does wear you out a little bit, but that is not the fundamental problem.

“The way Sebastian brought out those extra tenths from the car in recent years was quite unique. He is very sensitive to the behaviour of the car, especially when braking.”

Horner added that Vettel’s performances had suffered due to the poor driveability of the Red Bulls early in the seasons, not allowing him to drive “like a ballerina, dancing on the throttle and the brakes” as in recent seasons.

“His pace in Hungary showed he is getting the feeling for the car back again,” Horner said.

“And we can’t forget how many mechanical problems Sebastian has had — many of them just little things that have disrupted his flow. So he has had less time to adapt his driving style.”

By contrast, Horner said Vettel’s Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo had performed vastly better than originally forecast and had made a tremendous contribution to team bonhomie in what has been a difficult season.

“Daniel has done a wonderful job, he’s exceeded all of our expectations, and probably even his own, to have been so quick so soon,” Horner told Racer. “But it’s not just his speed — it’s his racecraft, his ability at the high-pressure points in qualifying and the race, when he has delivered and it has all looked very easy for him.

“He has been right up there and his race in Germany against (Fernando) Alonso was fantastic. The fact he wouldn’t give in and kept fighting shows that behind that big smile is a really steely, determined racer.”

Ricciardo’s contributions to Red Bull extended well beyond race day.

Daniel Ricciardo (L) has enjoyed a breakout year for Red Bull Racing while team mate Sebastian Vettel (R) has struggled.Source:AAP

“The enthusiasm that Dan has brought into the team has been positive for everyone,” said Horner. “It has been great for the team, especially when things are tough. Then, the team looks to its drivers in many respects (for encouragement) because they are the ones that have to deliver on a Sunday afternoon.

“His relationship with Sebastian is strong and it’s great to have two drivers that are feeding each other. There’s a rivalry on track, but off track they are working as hard as they can and as openly as they can with each other to try and improve the car.”

Mario Andretti, who claimed the drivers’ championship in 1978, concurred with Horner’s assessment of the Australian driver.

“(Ricciardo) has been fabulous. I’m sure that he has even surprised himself,” Andretti told the official Formula 1 website.

“He has been consistently quick and doing it very well. I’ve been watching some of his overtaking and it’s just consistently perfect — it’s really aggressive but really well-calculated.

“He’s showing a lot of class this year and his character is nice too — always with a smile. He keeps himself very cool and calm and he’s doing his things really well.

“You could tell going in [to Red Bull] that he had nothing to lose because he was certainly not expected to outshine Sebastian [Vettel].

“But right from the beginning he took charge and he’s still there. He’s one of the special talents that you love to see now and then.”